Champagne
by RIPBryceLarkin
Summary: So I decided there wasn't enough Charah going around so I took it upon myself to do something about it. This a little Charah oneshot and my first fic, hope you enjoy!


A/N: It is finally done! Here is my first fic and I want to thank everyone who encouraged me to write. A special thank you to **fAteD lOvE** who encouraged me to write in the first place and whose work you definitely need to read if you haven't already. If you don't like this story then you can blame her but if you do then I'll take the credit. Thank you to **Sm93Starbuck **for looking over it and **Wepdiggy **for the beta. Both of them are freakishly awesome and have amazing stories that you should check out.

Just so you know this story takes place sometime in the future.

Also I don't own _Chuck_ and if I did it'd either be on HBO or Telemundo…not sure which…

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_After a particularly harrowing mission Chuck and Sarah were walking back to his apartment. All of a sudden Sarah stopped and turned to look at Chuck._

"_Chuck when this is all finally over we'll celebrate."_

_Chuck looked at her and smiled. "Yeah?"_

"_I promise. I'll even make sure there's champagne in order to make it a true celebration."_

_Chuck laughed and then linked his arm with Sarah's, "It's date."_

_Sarah smiled and hoped that that day would come sooner than later._

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There was a knock at his door. Chuck did _not_ need a visitor right now. He was in the midst of packing and realizing he probably should have heeded his sister's advice about not waiting until the last minute. Well too late for that!

The Intersect project was finally over and after the initial shock, Chuck was finally going to be allowed to move on. Casey had already left for "someplace where there aren't idiots like you Bartowski." His goodbye consisted of a grunt that Chuck would like to believe deep down meant something along the lines of "You're a good friend and I'm happy for all the good times we've had." However, Chuck knew Casey better than that and it was probably more like "Good riddance."

Sarah, on the other hand, was a whole different story. Ever since that final briefing she had been distant though Chuck figured she was just as freaked out as he was. After all, Sarah had spent her last few years on this mission and her life was as centered around the Intersect as his was. He had hoped that she would come and talk to him and answer the question that had been in the back of his mind since Beckman's announcement: what now? However, when it came to their complicated relationship he knew Sarah was never one to make a move and Chuck decided he couldn't wait for her to do so. He had already put his life on hold for one woman and he would not do it again, and knew that Sarah wouldn't want him to. Chuck had decided to use some of the money the government gave him to take a vacation. For the first time in years Chuck was finally free. He planned to travel to rediscover himself before deciding what to do with the rest of his life as that choice was finally his again. He hoped that when he returned he could see Sarah and work something out, but he would cross that bridge when he got there.

Chuck sighed. He couldn't deal with the mystery that is Sarah Walker now as he had to go answer the door (which was most likely Morgan) and kindly tell whomever it was to leave. Or in Morgan's case, it would be more like force to leave.

Chuck opened the door and all thoughts of telling the person at the door to leave vanished when he saw blue eyes staring up at him. Sarah was standing there with a bag in her hand and even though she was dressed in jeans and t-shirt and Chuck had just seen her yesterday, he couldn't help but smile at her. No matter how many times they lied to one another or themselves, or how often they weren't on the same page, on some level they were always connected. When Chuck was with Sarah the world seemed right and all the problems between them seemed to fade away into the distance, only to reappear once they parted. He knew shouldn't act this way but he couldn't help it; he was just boy who happened to be hopelessly in love with the girl in front of him.

Chuck, by now, was sure that the smile on his face had transformed into that goofy grin he always seemed to have when Sarah was around but he didn't care. Sarah gave him a soft smile in return.

"How's packing going?"

In response, Chuck preceded to open the door wider so Sarah could judge for herself. It looked like the place had been robbed or at the very least the target of a ninja's vendetta. Boxes were scattered everywhere, furniture was out of place and in general what had made the apartment a home was now gone and packed away.

"Good to see you're almost done." Chuck was about to protest when Sarah cut him off and said smiling as she walked into the apartment, "Cause we've got a date."

Date, what date? Did he forget about making plans? No, not likely if they were with Sarah. "O-okayyy…"

"Don't you remember Chuck?" Sarah said, her grin growing at his obvious lack of awareness to what was going on. "I promised you that we'd celebrate when this was all over." She then revealed what was in the bag as she pulled out an ice-cold bottle of champagne.

Chuck couldn't believe he had forgotten about the promise. The fact that Sarah remembered and gone out of her way to fulfill it spoke volumes to him. She may not actually say or verbalize that she cared but when she did things like this Chuck knew that what they had, and the feelings involved, were real.

Chuck shook his head, "I can't believe you actually got it."

"Well I did promise, didn't I?" Sarah said smiling at him.

"That you did. Oh no!" Chuck now looked panicked as if he just realized something awful.

Sarah, now alarmed, quickly asked, "What is it Chuck?"

Chuck smacked his forehead. "Gah! I realized all the cups have been put away and I don't think I even have plastic cups or anything like that. I mean maybe I have them or I could make cups since I think you make them out of paper but—"

At this admission Sarah visibly relaxed and placed her hand on his to stop his rambling. "Tonight we drink straight from the bottle."

Chuck smiled that famous grin at her and took the bottle to open it.

"Chuck…I, I wanted to say thank you…for everything. You'll never know how grateful I am and if I thought there was something I could do in return I…Chuck are you alright?" Sarah said peering over at Chuck who seemed to have declared war on the champagne bottle.

"I'm fine I'm just trying to open the bottle. I think it's broken." It was then Chuck realized he had completely missed whatever she was saying before as he was so focused on getting the bottle opened. He sheepishly gazed at her only to find himself staring at an angry glare from Sarah, "Sorry, just trying to get the bubbly flowing…"

Sarah, however, did not seem amused and replied, "Let me see it Chuck."

"I've got it Sarah just hold on a second." Chuck was now trying to make the situation better and just get Sarah calm again.

"Just give it to me Chuck!" Sarah now obviously upset.

"Hold on, I've almost got it."

"This isn't even about the champagne. Chuck, drop the bottle," Sarah ordered now using that forceful tone of voice that was usually only reserved for the infamous 'Stay in the car' line.

Chuck reacted to her yelling by starting to ramble, "I mean you went through all of this trouble to get this and now we can't even drink it and—"

"Shhh Chuck," Sarah soothed, interrupting his incoherent babbling once again. All of her anger had dissipated and was now replaced with compassion. She placed her hand on Chuck's cheek forcing him to look at her, "It's going to be okay."

Chuck let out a heavy sigh, "I'm sorry, it's been a long day."

Chuck now looked at Sarah, his brown eyes staring into hers, imploring her to forgive him for not paying attention. They stayed like that for a moment reminding Chuck of the shared moment they had so long ago in front of his father's trailer. Now, however, there was no one to interrupt them and he was about to lean in to kiss her when Sarah balked. She snatched her hand back as if his cheek was suddenly painful to touch and she turned away from him. She then walked over to the window where she seemed to be just staring out into the abyss. After about a minute of silence went by Sarah softly said, "You should stay Chuck."

"What?" Chuck asked not sure if he heard her correctly.

Sarah now looked at him, "You could use that money to create that software company you've always dreamed of. "

Chuck laughed. "Very funny Sarah."

Sarah, however, continued as if she didn't hear him. "And if you leave who will stay up with Morgan in marathon rounds of Call of Duty, not to mention what Ellie and Devon will do without you."

Chuck was now confused and had no clue where this was coming from. "What are you talking about Sarah?"

"I'm just saying I think your trip can wait Chuck," Sarah replied seemingly annoyed at him for even daring to contemplate leaving.

Chuck couldn't believe his ears. "My trip can _wait_? Sarah for the past few years I've been the government's slave, allowed to make no decisions in my own life, and now, now that I'm finally free you're telling me I should wait because _Morgan_ won't have someone to play video games with and my sister and Awesome will miss me? Besides, what does it even matter to you, you're leaving too."

The annoyance had now escalated into hints of anger, "I'm just going to D.C. to check in. For all I know I could be stationed back in LA."

That statement took Chuck aback. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you're leaving and we're never going to see you again."

Chuck was sick of the usual runaround from Sarah and knew her well enough to know that there was a different meaning behind her words, "What are you trying to say Sarah?"

Sarah was now angry and started to yell at him. "Do you even realize what you do!? You get people to care about you and your life, and then when all is said and done you just walk away—"

Chuck didn't know what was going on anymore. Sarah was definitely upset about something but she wasn't making sense and Chuck needed to stop her before she decided to act out on her anger in the form of violent acts against the only target in the place: him.

"Sarah I don't even know why you're mad at me!"

The statement caused Sarah to finally pause from her rant and after a moment she took a shaky breath. When she looked at Chuck she seemed as if she was torn between laughing and crying. "I wish I was mad," she muttered though more to herself than to him.

Sarah then looked at him, her blue eyes reflecting hints of sadness and something else but before Chuck could even decipher the other thing Sarah had walked over to him, closed the gap between them and crashed her lips into his. Her fingers were threaded in his hair and she was pulling him closer trying to eliminate all possible space between them.

As soon as Chuck's lips touched Sarah's something took over. He felt Sarah's desperate need and responded by kissing her back with that same force to make up for all the time lost and opportunities missed. Nothing right now made sense to him and yet, at the same time, everything was right in the world when he kissed Sarah.

When they finally pulled apart Chuck was finally brought back to Earth. He opened his eyes to find himself peering into Sarah's. She sighed and looked down as she swallowed a deep breath. She finally stared back at him, her eye's reflecting a cascade of emotions, and in an almost inaudible whisper she said, "I'm just too late."

With that Sarah left the apartment leaving Chuck stunned, confused and wondering what in the world had just happened.

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Sarah could not believe what just happened. She had gone to Chuck's in order to keep her promise and had resigned herself in having that one last night with him. He cared so much for those around him and did so little for himself that she felt he deserved this night. When he opened the door and his smile grew into that goofy grin she couldn't help but smile back. It was hard to remember everything that was wrong when she was with Chuck.

_Would you break my fall_

_Even though I don't deserve it at all_

_Would you call my name_

_And heal the wounds of lonely days_

When Chuck had gotten flustered about not having something as trivial as cups she knew she could no longer stop herself from saying what was on her mind. He was trying so hard to make their last moments perfect and the fact he was doing it because of her made it even more endearing. Chuck deserved to know how much he's done not just for his country but for her personally. However, when Sarah tried to tell Chuck she felt the words stick to her tongue and her throat went dry. How do you compact years worth of unstated feelings and thoughts into a few words? On top of that Sarah was never good with words to begin with so she struggled to convey what she wanted to say. She wished she had the courage that he had and was able to tell him how important he was and still is to her.

When Sarah had finally worked up the strength and started to tell him she discovered that he wasn't even listening to her. At that point her anger obviously got the better of her and she starting yelling only to have Chuck respond by rambling. What was initially supposed to be a calm, nice evening between them was spiraling out of control and Sarah had needed it to get back on track. She forced Chuck to look at her and reassured him that everything would be okay.

However, when Sarah looked into his eyes what she saw scared her. She saw a torrent of things flicker in his eyes: warmth, openness, love and acceptance. Somehow Chuck had gotten past the walls that had for so long protected her and somewhere along the way Sarah realized that she no longer wanted to keep him out. When Beckman had announced that the Intersect project was officially over it was as if the agent inside of her had taken over. Sarah voided herself of all emotion and accepted the fact that she would be returning to D.C. for a final briefing and eventually be relocated back in the field. It was as if the agent knew that if she stopped pushing forward there would be no turning back for Sarah. But looking in his eyes there was no denying the truth, he was leaving and she wasn't going with him.

_In the midst of it all_

_Try to regain composure_

_By first confessing this fall_

_That proves my need for a savior_

The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Sarah now acknowledged that her body had been drifting through the week and going through all the motions and just now her mind had caught up with it. On one level Sarah was happy that the Intersect project was over, Chuck could finally go on with his life and no longer be held back by obligations to something he had never asked for. However, the first emotion that accompanied this thought wasn't relief but rather anger; anger at Chuck for making her care and changing her. Before Chuck, Sarah was able to keep her emotions separate and do whatever task was needed to get the job done. Now, however, Sarah found herself questioning her choices and looking past just the mission and towards what it all really meant. Meeting Chuck had opened up a part of her that she had closed off for so long, and made her want things she knew she shouldn't and could not have. Sarah was never one to open up to others but with Chuck she allowed herself to open herself one stitch at a time.

Sarah also felt fear well up inside her. For so long Sarah had been dependent on only herself and just now she realized how much she had come to need Chuck. The thought of not having him be there waiting for her scared her and she realized how much she took for granted. For the first time in a long time Sarah felt like she was no longer in control. The agent inside her was nowhere to be found leaving Sarah to struggle through the chaos of all that she was feeling. Sarah felt as if she was falling headfirst into fate and she only hoped that Chuck was there to catch her at the end. With her confidence gone Sarah had found herself truly wondering if everything was going to turn out okay.

_Would you break my fall_

_Even though I don't deserve it at all_

_Would you call my name_

_And heal the wounds of lonely days_

_When lost love mocks the heart and stains the soul_

_Makes it hard_

_Could you make these pieces into something beautiful_

_I wanna be... beautiful _

No longer able to look Chuck in the eyes she went to the window to try to collect her thoughts. Sarah didn't want Chuck to change or think about him continuing on with his life without her. She had decided she would reason with him; make Chuck realize that this trip of his was pointless as he could open up a company right here in L.A. without ever having to leave. However, Chuck had seen through her deflection of her own feelings and since she obviously couldn't say what she wanted so Sarah did the only thing she could think of: kiss him. She had kissed him with all the emotions she could never put into words: the fear, the longing and most of all the true depth of how much he meant to her. She kissed him with the desperation that she felt and the craving she had to walk with Chuck in his world rather than in the darkness of her own.

When Sarah had finally pulled away she knew immediately that she made the wrong move. She was always giving Chuck mixed signals and forcing his life to be complicated when it didn't have to be. Sarah realized that the time had come when she was no longer able to expect him to drop everything at any time just for her; she was too late. No longer able to face him with this revelation she left.

Now Sarah was waiting for the elevator to come and she was cursing herself the whole time. So many "what ifs"were running through her mind and she wished she could go back and change them all. She jabbed the elevator button repeatedly hoping that by doing so it would come faster. Sarah then heard someone behind her clear his throat and she whirled around ready to attack only to find herself staring into a pair of warm brown eyes.

"After years together, thousands of opportunities, you wait until the day before I'm supposed to leave to tell me this?" Chuck asked incredulously.

Sarah was at a loss for words. She knew she had no right to ask for another chance as time and time again she rejected him. What was anger and regret before now returned to that all-consuming fear that she had when she left the apartment, that she was too late. However, before Sarah could even open her mouth to plead with Chuck he gave her a heart-melting smile, "What took you so long?"

Chuck then pressed his lips to hers and all of her fears and worries disappeared. The kiss was full of promise of the future and for the first time since the announcement of the end of the assignment Sarah felt balanced and whole. She vaguely heard the elevator door ding and open as well as a few gasps but she didn't care. Sarah was lost in Chuck and although she didn't know what the future held or even if she was getting on a plane tomorrow, she did know that she would be with Chuck and for now that was all she needed to know.

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A/N: BAM! Done and now I think a few people owe me some updates and stories, and I plan to collect. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. You know what would be awesome though, a review from you! I'll even help you out:

I thought this story was _______________ (fill in the blank).

OR

When I read this story I felt _________________ (fill in the blank).

See half the work is done for you and you'll feel better after doing it…or at least make me happy. Thanks again!

P.S. The song lyrics in there are "Break My Fall" by Lanae Hale. Also if you recognize where the inspiration for this fic came from then mad props to you and we should talk sometime.


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